30 Comments
Why is this person using an ancient, miniscule suitcase, that’s the real question
If you, dear first years, unlike Bwog, have actually decided to properly pack your things and not stuff whatever’s in sight into as many suitcases as you can dig up from the basement, then here are a few tips from Momma Bwog:
Food
- If possible, bring snacks and things that won’t spoil with you—expect everything in the city to cost at least a dollar or two (or ten) more than it does back home, and that adds up quickly.
- Despite what the internet says, you will definitely get sick of the dining halls.
Printer
- Only necessary if you want to do color printing, which is $1.00/sheet from the handful of color printers on campus. Also helpful if you go over your (generous 100 pages/week + 100 floating pages/semester) print quota.
- Otherwise, it’ll probably just sit on your desk and gather dust, because while you’ll enjoy the luxury of printing from your room for the first few days, once you run out of ink or paper, it’s unlikely that you’ll actually go out and buy more.
- Just download this program from ADI and you’ll be able to print to any campus printer from your laptop.
Footwear
- Rain boots, unless you want foot fungus.
- Shower shoes, because you really don’t want foot fungus
- You will probably be walking a lot. Plan accordingly.
Ventilation
- If your dorm doesn’t have A/C, you need a fan.
- This means any first year not living in Carman, Furnald or Sulz.
Lighting
- The incessant drone of the standard florescent light in your room with turn either your or your roommate into a flesh-eating zombie.
- Whether it’s Christmas lights or a stand lamp, bring some form of illumination other than your laptop, phone, or tablet screen.
Fridge
- Not totally necessary because of the meal plan, but good to have around anyway. Important if you like your drinks cold and your leftovers not covered in mold.
- Don’t bring it from home! Pick on up at the Green Sale (see below).
School things
- Standard stuff (pens, paper, pencils, etc), and don’t go too overboard. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever use that fancy leather-bound binder from the upscale office supply store downtown.
- Don’t buy it from the bookstore (this is general rule of thumb). There’s a Target in Harlem and another one in the Bronx right of the 225th St. stop on the 1 or cheaper alternatives in the city. At least one Bwog staffer swears by the one of several Muji stores all over Manhattan.
- Do buy a stapler, though. You’ll be the hero of your U Writing class.
Speakers
-
Good to drown out the noise of your floormates having sex.
Laundry detergent
- Pods or liquid, doesn’t really matter. Learn how to do laundry before getting to campus, and get some sort of hamper to avoid being the asshole who never picks up his clothes from the machine.
Cleaning supplies
- Febreze is arguably the most important and paper towels always come in handy. Your RA should have a vacuum to use, so you won’t need to buy one of your own unless you want to clearly see the mystery stains on your Hartley carpet.
Spare linens
- Your friend will probably puke in your bed and/or bathroom. Be prepared.
Now, don’t go rushing out to buy all of these things. Many of the above and more can be acquired on campus at the Green Sale run by Columbia’s EcoReps, refrigerators in particular! We’ll post more about the Green Sale in the coming weeks.
Also, if you’re flying here, don’t spend 60 dollars to bring an extra bag full of 12 dollars worth of laundry detergent. Common sense, people.
Have more suggestions for our incoming freshpeople? Unsure whether to bring your grandfather’s unique raccoon headdress? Well, you know what to do.
Poor packer via Shutterstock
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30 Comments
@can't figure out what to pack I need someone to recommend snacks for me to bring. I need a snack that won’t spoil and has b vitamins/protein.
@content alum – lots of tea (a snack with almost no calories and a little caffeine!)
Don’t fuck with non-perishable snacks. Just keep some v8 and bananas in ur fridge and you’ll be good.
@Hi For a second I thought this said “Bwog’s Guide to the Perils of Parenting,” and I’m pretty sure that’s something I would honestly be too scared to read.
@Rising Senior To bring a mattress pad or two. It makes your bed SO much more comfortable.
@Rising Senior Don’t Forget*
It will make you life so much better
@Anonymous There are a bunch of stores on Broadway where you can buy anything you are missing.
@Anonymous the print@CU site says it will be back next week
@Anonymous lol at no mention of print at cu.. another year, another round of bwog and spec at each other’s throats
@Jake Hershman bwog isn’t at spec’s throat
@Anonymous print@cu no longer works with the new ninja
@Anonymous print@CU says it will be back next week, http://www.printatcu.com
@Anonymous also print@cu is open-source. so spec essentially paid thousands of $$$ for… a domain name.
@anonymous definitely bring snowboots. or inserts for your rainboots bc let’s be honest rainboots aren’t warm.
@Anonymous Furnald has AC
@Gangsta Achilles > any first year *not* living in Carman, Furnald or Sulz.
Reading comprehension – work on it.
@Anon I’m definitely getting rain boots but do you guys advise buying snow boots as well? I was set to buy some but brother told me that they are unnecessary.
@nope Rising senior here. It snows maybe a handful of times each year, and I’ve always been fine with wearing rainboots over some thick socks. Snowboots might keep your feet a bit warmer when you’re playing in the snow, but definitely not necessary if you don’t already have them!
@Anon If you’re living in JJ/Wallach/Hartley (I can’t speak to any other buildings’ machine quality), I don’t recommend using liquid laundry detergent–the machines are old and cheap and add the soap all at once, leaving you with attractive giraffe-style bleach spots. Use powder instead.
@new washers, yay! the machines in the llc were just replaced
@Anonymous All of the machines on the entire Columbia campus have been replaced this summer.
@general question do employers know that columbia school of general studies is less competitive and far worse than real columbia university cc/seas
@Please Bring Your grandfather’s unique headdress #crowdsurftheracoon
@Anonymous This is definitely not true, since GS students take the same classes as CC/SEAS students. So it may be easier to get into but the diploma should have the same value.
@cc/gs alum As an alum having the unique um distinction? of having been a graduate of CC and GS I have to take issue with your comment. CC might be harder to get into and more “prestigious” but in the real world that means absolutely nothing. Some of the smartest people I’ve met in my career have gone to schools I’ve never heard of. Employers might care 1-2 years out of college but after that it’s more about what you’ve accomplished than the name of the school on your diploma.
@BSGS Seeing as we have the better GPAs and less money in scholarships/ grants, I’d say we’re more “competitive.” We don’t get in based in on dumb and irrelevant shit for people 25 and up. Military service, careers, good grades at the best schools we could afford are a little more telling. Good job on comparing nonsense to life.
@excellent troll Bwog is back baby!
@lazy college senior employers don’t much distinguish between CC/GS
Barnard on the other hand…
@bc '14 I don’t have Columbia printed on my resume anywhere and my current employer keeps referring to me as a “Columbia/Ivy League graduate.”
It doesn’t give me any particular satisfaction because I think of myself as a Barnard grad first and a member of the CU peripheral community second, but the thought of this anecdote getting you mad as a hornet is a very enjoyable one.
@oop track reply
@umm, you're an idiot Troll elsewhere, douche bag.